RSF said the failures foster "hatred in general and hatred against journalists."
The suit says Facebook's terms of service say the platform can't be used to share unlawful, misleading, discriminatory or fraudulent information.
It also says Facebook fails its obligation under its Community Standards to "significantly reduce" disinformation, and a claim in a French advertisement to offer precise information to fight COVID-19.
RSF cites a November report from nonprofit First Draft that identified Facebook as a "hub of vaccine conspiracy theories" and a UNESCO report that called Facebook's the least safe platform.
In France, Facebook has 38 million users, 24 million of whom are daily users.
Under French law, a practice is considered deceptive if it's "based on false claims, statements or representations or is likely to mislead." The fine for the offense is up to 10% of annual sales.
Because Facebook's terms of service are the same worldwide, RSF said it's considering filing similar complaints in other countries.
Facebook has attempted to address misinformation by adding labels and links to questionable posts.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to appear before the U.S. Congress on Thursday to answer questions about the role of social media disinformation in the January 6 Capitol attack.
